Improvement in corn-stalk choppers



J. HOLLINGSWORTH.

improvement in Corn-Stalk Chopper.

Patented Get. 29,1872.

ATENT rFIcE.

IMPROVEMENT IN CORN-STALK CHOPPERS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 132,578, dated October29, 1872.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, JAMES HOLLINGS- 'WORTILof Chicago, in the county of Cook Anying drawing making part of thisspecification, in which- Figure 1 is a top view of the improved machine;Fig. 2 is a section taken vertically and longitudinally through themachine in the plane indicated by dotted line :t x, onFig. l, Fig. 3 isa section through the machine taken in the vertical plane indicated bydotted line a: x, on Fig. l; and Fig. 4 is a sectional view of one ofthe arched gatherers.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the severaliigures. g

This invention relates to certain improvements on machines which aredesigned for breaking down and chopping up corn-stalks in the iieldpreparatory to plowing them under, as will be hereinafter explained.

The following description of my invention will enable others skilled inthe art to understand it.

rlhe frame of the machine is composed of four parallel beams, A A A1 A1,arranged longitudinally and secured at their ends by .means oftransverse beams. This frame is suspended from the axle B of twoldriving and transporting wheels, B B, by means of journal-boxes b b,which are secured upon the four longitudi-` nal framebeams, on whichaxle tappet-wheels c c are keyed. Each one of the wheels B is appliedloosely on its axle B outside of the frame, and turns loosely thereonwhen the machine is backed, but when the machine is moved forward aspring-pawl, f', engages with a ratchetwheel, f, which is keyed on saidaxle and thus turns the latter. The tappet-wheels, which are arrangedbetween the beams A A1, are designed for raisin g the `choppers c, whilebeneath the tappet-wheels are springs g g, which quickly and forciblythrow down the choppers and give the cutting-strokes thereto. Eachchopper is a iiat plate, c, presenting a straight cuttingedge. It issecured to the front transverse head of an. open vibrating lever, C,which has its fulcrum at r, and which extends backward far enough to beacted upon by its tappet-wheel c', as shown in Figs. l and 2. In rear ofthe fulcrum of each lever C its bars are contracted andsccured to apiece, d, which is the part acted on by the tappetteeth above and springbelow.l In front of the choppers and secured rigidly to the lower sideof the front cross-beam of the main frame are two hanged plates, E E,,which present concave gathering edges shod with round bars E. Thesedevices are designed for gathering in the leaning stalks and breakingdown all the stalks which stand in their path. The flanged sides of thebox of each gatherer and breaker are perpendicular to the front beam ofthe main frame, and to these sides are pivoted stalk-arms h 7L,which areheldin working position, as indicated in Figs. 2 and 4, by means of awooden pimp, passed transversely through said flanges infront of theupper ends of the arms h, as shown in Fig. 4. The wooden pin p issufficiently frail to break should any one of the arms h meet with suchan obstruction in its path as would be liable to break it. In

i such an event the arm so obstructed would fall back and pass freelyover the obstruction.

The arms thus described are designed for straightening and bringing intoline with the choppers any stalks which may have been -trampled down andmoved to one Vside of the rows. The driver rides uponthe machine, and aseat, S, is provided for him, which is secured upon the rear end of aninclined bar, S'. The bar S is sustained in an inclined position bymeans of two cross-pieces, s s', one of which, s, rests upon the twoframe-beams A1 A1, and the other, s', is arranged beneath these beamsand is pressed upward against' them by the weight on the lseat S. Bymeans of pins e c on the two beams A1 A1, the bar S and its seat areprevented from casually moving forward or backward, but said pins(thereare three sets of them) will allow the attendant to adjust theseat and its bar forward or back ward. When the driver is in his seat hemay rest his feet upon the intermediate beams A1 A1, or he can raisewith his feet the choppers and secure them up out of operation. In frontof the drivers seat and secured firmly upon the main frame is across-bar, F, which may be used by the driver as a foot-rest, for whichpurpose its upper surface is inclined in the 2 teen-7s proper direction.To the front edge of this bar F two hand-levers, i i, arepivoted, whichlevers have hooks on their lower ends for engaging with hooked lugs jjon the inner bars of the chopping-levers C O, Vand supporting thechoppers c in elevated positions out of operation. The levers z' i arein such close relation to the seat S that the driver can convenientlyhook up the levers C whenever he desires to do so. Upon the front endsof the two outer frame-beams A A two draft-tongues, A2 A2, are firmlysecured, between which and upon the front beam of the frame a bar, T, issecured, as shown in Fig. 2. On this bar T, and pivoted centrally to itby a vertical kingbolt, Z, is a triple-tree, Gr, which is provided witha central eye, a, between the tongues A2 A2, and two eyes, a a', outsideof these tongues, as shown in Fig. 1. These eyes a a are designed forthe attachment of single-trees for three horses abreast, one of whichwill be harnessed between the tongues and the other two will beharnessed outside of the tongues. Directly beneath the king-bolt l andconnected to the lower side of the front beam of the main frame is acaster-wheel, m, for supporting the front end of the machine. There maybe more than one caster-wheel employed, but Ibelieve one will answer thepurpose when arranged as described.

By means of the machine above described, I secure, rst, the advantage ofthe common hand-hoe strokes of the choppers, which will cut througheither dry or wet stalks with great facility, owing to the action ofthesprings g g. Second, the arrangement of the two tongues A2 A2 allowsthree horses to be hitched to the machine abreast, each horse walkingbetween the rows so as to allow two rows of stalks on each side of 4themiddle horse to be chopped at every passage of the machine across afield; at the same time the driver has full control over his horses, andthey can all draw to advantage. Third, by sustaining the forward end ofthe main frame upon caster-wheels the driving-axle can be placed wellback on the frame, thereby allowing very long levers to be used for thechoppers, and also allowing the latter to be arranged close to the heelsof the animals and in front of the driver. the arms which depend fromthe gatherers collect the stalks into line with the choppers while thegatherers break down the stalks and lay them in position for being cutup. Fifth, the drivers seat is so arranged relatively to the rear armsof the chopping-levers and to the hooked levers ifthat the driver can atpleasure, whether the machine be in operation or at rest, Vraise thechoppers out of operationV and keep them in this condition.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secureby Letters Patent, is-l 1. One or more beams, O, fulcrum, r, andprovided with a choppingblade, c, in combination with a spring, g, andtappet-wheel c', substantially as described.

2. The concave and rigid stalk gatherers and breakers E, arranged infront ofand in close relation to the vibrating stalk-choppers,substantially as described.

JAMES HOLLINGSWORTH.

Vitnesses:

HENRY M. BACON, Enw. S. EvARrs.

Fourth, l

vibrating on a

